Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 14, 1990 TAG: 9004250194
SECTION: AMERICAN WOMEN'S SHOW PAGE: AW5 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: SARAH COX
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
"Even people with traditional furnishings are looking at crafts to make their rooms more unusual," said Gayle Wise of The Rainbow Collection, one of the many craft booths that will be set up in the concourse section of the American Women's Show. "Crafts have gone from totally country into things that everyone is looking for."
The variety that will be exhibited this weekend ranges from the traditional Longaberger baskets to contemporary straw baskets with porcelain roses and silk flowers; from counted cross-stitch pillows and bibs to patchwork quilts; from refinished antiques to gifts-in-a-balloon. Something for everyone.
Gift-stuffed latex balloons, from Unique Wrap Enterprises, is an idea only a couple of years old. Bettyjane Ehrlich, who owns this business, said it was started by a man in Arizona who marketed the original balloon-stuffing machine, Classy Wrap. Since then, she said, copies of this machine have popped up, and there are about six or seven such businesses in Roanoke.
Ehrlich, an enterprising woman who wants to explore the farthest horizons of gift-wrapping ("I'd wrap a barn if I could"), has stuffed balloons with housewarming gifts, layettes, birthday and wedding gifts, to name a few. She can even put wine bottles, with a selection of cheese and crackers, in one of her beribboned balloons. Ehrlich will have some premade balloons at the show, and some plain - the latter ranging from $4 to $7, depending on the size.
As with many cottage industries, some of these crafts people entered the business in a meandering sort of way, and are now running to keep up. "I lost my job when we first got married," said Weny Carriker of Wendy Jane Creations. "My husband said I needed to find something to do to keep busy, and now I think he regrets it. It takes over."
Carriker cross-stitches pillows, pictures, bookmarks and bibs, as well as manufactures Aida cloth bibs for wholesale to cross-stitch shops.
Karen Klaas of Paintbox Creations in Norfolk started her business out of a need to provide Christmas presents to her family. "This just kind of came about accidently," she said. "I was broke one Christmas, trying to figure out what to give my family and was walking through a deparment store." She said she saw wearable art tee-shirts and sweatshirts - which is what she does now - and thought, "Why not?" She works out of her living room, where she designs and decorates women's shirts, socks and skirts in the evenings after spending a full day as a florist.
"The clothes themselves are flashy, with pearlescent paints, glitter and rhinestones, and the paint that I use is completely washer- and dryer-safe. You can wear them out to dinner or to the grocery store, either one." Klaas will have a selection of her wearable art at the American Women's Show.
The Hatcher Center in Danville also began with modest goals and has developed into a full-time operation. It is a sheltered workshop employing 69 handicapped people, according to manager Bob Phillips. "It started back around 1962 as a day care center for mentally retarded adults," he said, "and then evolved into what it is today. Somebody (no one knows who for sure) just had the idea of making a quilt."
The Hatcher Center produces patchwork quilts, place mats, chair pads, pillows and aprons, and applique pillows and chair pads. "They're hand-tacked, Colonial-style, like they were 200 years ago," said Phillips. Only 100 percent cotton, print or solid calico is used.
An eclectic collection of crafts will be shown at Gayle Wise's Rainbow Collection booth. She represents several craftspeople, "kind of for fun and games," she said. "I have beautiful photo albums, covered in calico, lace and ribbon." These can be used for weddings or babies. She also carries calico wreaths, grapevine or straw wreaths, white pecan wood ducks, brooms and baskets.
Mary Jo Thompson's and Mary Denton's Yesteryear Basket Booth will display Longaberger baskets, a craft with turn-of-the-century origins in Dresden, Ohio. "J.W. Longaberger made these when they used baskets only," said Thompson. "All are handmade, maple wood. Some have a swinging handle, attached by a copper rivet, and some have a stationary handle."
According to Thompson, Longaberger used to trade his baskets for farm produce in order to feed his family. One of Longaberger's six sons continued his father's basket weaving craft and started the company about 15 years ago. Now they are sold by 6,000 home show consultants throughout the United States. But the baskets, of two to four thicknesses of wood, are still handmade one by one, dated and signed on the bottom.
There are 80 different styles, with names indicative of their original use. The rectangular Market Basket, the tall, deep Bread and Milk Basket (it holds two bottles of milk and two loaves of bread), and the Key Basket, which comes in three sizes, can now be used for various decorative or useful purposes in the home. "They are durable and functional," said Thompson. "The large Key Basket is just the right size for the Roanoke phone book and hangs on the wall."
These baskets start at $17 for the smallest and go up to $80. But Thompson said that ones made in 1975 go for as much as $500 now.
Collectibles - they're everywhere. From the moire shelf cat which hangs from a bookcase to the soaked-in-cinnamon brooms, a healthy collection will be found in the concourse of the American Women's Show.
by CNB